1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to supporting carriers for movably supporting operable wall panels from a supporting surface or surfaces and more particularly a carrier having a canted wheel or wheels supportingly engaging a supporting surface or surfaces to enable the carrier and the panel to be moved in any direction along the supporting surface and enabling negotiation of angle turns or intersections in the supporting surface without switching devices or curved supporting surfaces.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Operable wall systems that are top and/or bottom supported have been developed utilizing a trackway system which involves a generally channel-shaped track having inwardly extending flanges having adjacent edges in spaced parallel relation to provide a track slot or groove. A carrier or plurality of carriers is movably positioned in the track with a supporting element extending through the track slot for supporting a wall module, panel, or the like, to enable the module to be moved to a desired location in relation to an enclosed space thereby defining a wall, partition, or the like. In order to relocate the wall or store the modules in a compact, stacked position, the supporting tracks are provided with curved sections in some instances and in some instances provided with switching devices, both of which facilitate rolling movement of the track engaging rollers mounted on the carrier in the track, since these rollers normally rotate on a horizontal axis parallel with the track flanges. There has also been developed a slide disk-type or "puck" carrier for top supported operable walls which includes a generally circular disk disposed in the track in engagement with the track flanges and bridging the track slot with the disk including a central depending support member connected with the wall module or panel. This type of structure enables negotiation of angle turns or intersections in the track and enables the modules to be placed in any desired position in a trackway grid system. The disk-type carrier produces substantial frictional engagement with the track flanges and substantial force is required to move the wall modules along the track and substantial force is required to negotiate an angle turn in the track.
There has also been developed a carrier for top supported operable walls in which the overhead track includes vertically spaced and opposed flanges with the carrier including vertically spaced wheels or rollers on a common vertical support axle or spindle which depends from the track for supporting a wall panel. The vertically spaced and aligned supporting wheels or rollers engage vertically spaced flanges on opposite sides of the track slot with the rollers or wheels being independently rotatable so that as the carrier moves along the track, one roller or wheel will rotate in one direction and the other roller or wheel will rotate in the other direction. Prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,042,960, issued July 10, 1962, and 3,879,799, issued Apr. 29, 1975, disclose this type of supporting carrier which reduces the frictional resistance to movement but introduces the necessity of a track configuration having substantial depth and requires accurate manufacturing techniques in order to provide the appropriate relationship between the vertically spaced wheels and the vertically spaced track flanges. The tracks disclosed in the above patents require accurate cutting and matching of mitered corners, that is, by abutting the correct ends of the track sections since the configuration is non-symmetrical. Also, when installing the track, great care must be taken to accurately align the vertically offset flanges. Even when the vertically offset flanges have been properly aligned and matched, the panels will drop when the supporting wheels traverse an intersection or angle turn as the supporting wheels move in a diagonal path across an intersection or angle turn and drop into the valley or trough defined by the mitered joint between the track surfaces. Also, the direction of rotation of the supporting wheels will change when proceeding through a three-way intersection.